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RAS gears up for full digitalisation of its operations
Three years prior to
the current COVID 19 pandemic in 2017, RAS embarked on digitalising the
operations of its flagship Happy
Toilet Programme. The conventional method of using hand-written
checklists and digital cameras was consuming more resources in terms of printed
pages of checklists and time spent for assessors to sum up the checklist scores.
The assessors also needed to commute to office to submit their checklists
and photos. Training was provided to our assessors, who are mostly less
tech-savvy seniors, to adopt the use of a tablet with an integrated
camera. The e- checklist stored in the tablet automatically sums
up the scores and generates the star-rating results. The camera also
enables the assessors to take photos without a digital camera. Photos are
then shared via a secured file-sharing service with RAS without the need
to commute to the office. Though the process was initially time consuming
and challenging for the assessors, the efforts started to pay off with
better productivity.
Due to financial constraints, RAS was unable to
further digitalise its other operations but RAS received an email from
the Oracle NetSuite’s Social Impact Team in April, extending its support
to RAS through software donation or pro-bono project. Its support was pertinent
and crucial to RAS during the COVID-19 period when digitalisation was no
longer an option. The Oracle NetSuite will further enhance our digital
capability and most importantly help to streamline our operations in
terms of invoicing, accounting, customer relationship management,
marketing and human resource functions. The implementation is expected to
take months under the professional guidance of Oracle NetSuite on a
pro-bono basis and RAS staff will also need to undergo necessary training
to better prepare them to use the software.
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RAS conducts
virtual live talks and workshops
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RAS has received requests by a number
of preschools to postpone their Happy Toilets @ Preschools Programme.
As the preschool programme involves a hygiene
talk conducted for children, a workshop
for teachers and training for cleaning staff, with safe management
measures continued to be adopted in preschools to minimise contact, RAS will need to
innovate to ensure the sustainability of its preschool programme.
Therefore, virtual live talks, workshops and training were mulled as an
alternative means to reach out to preschools. With virtual live sessions
conducted, the wearing of mask which can pose a
challenge to talking for long duration, is no
longer a concern. The absence of masks also facilitates better
interaction with the children in terms of facial expressions. Rehearsals
were conducted with  preschools
prior to the actual date to ensure the projector,
sound system and camera were properly set up by both parties.
RAS has chosen to use Microsoft Teams
(MT), which is free and secured without a time limitation unlike most
software, which sets a time limitation of 40 to 50 minutes for free-to-use
accounts. Another reason for using MT is the flexibility of not requiring
external guests to install any software or to sign up an MT account to
connect with the host. The MT’s secured function also requires the
host to first grant permission to joining guests before any connection
can take place, thus preventing hacking incidents. This means
participating preschools are not only well-protected against hacking
incidents but also do not need to install any software or set up any
account to virtually engage RAS for the talk, workshop and training. RAS is
also exploring the possibility of conducting virtual talks and workshops
to schools participating in their STAR Awards Programme.
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RAS issues joint media release on
toilet cleanliness index with the Singapore Management University (SMU)
and other partners
On
26th May, a joint media release was issued by SMU together with the World
Toilet Organization (WTO), Public Hygiene Council (PHC), Singapore
Kindness Movement (SKM) and RAS about a drop in toilet cleanliness at
coffeeshops and hawker centres as compared to 2016. A study conducted
through an SMU undergraduate course from 10 January to 7 February 2020  also
revealed that more than a quarter of customers interviewed said that they
would not use the toilets in such eating places. As part of the
investigation, 8,217 customers and hawkers were also interviewed about
the state of toilets in coffee shops and food centres across all postal
codes in Singapore.
SMU
found that more than a quarter of the 5,948 customers interviewed at the
coffeeshops and hawker centres where they were eating, said that they
would not use the toilets there. More than 3 in 5 indicated there was a
need for a moderate to complete overhaul of toilet cleanliness. While
almost all (97%) of the 2,269 coffeeshop and hawker centre workers said
that they used the toilets there, more than half stressed there was a
need to improve the state of the toilets. Full interactive results can be
found at www.toiletstatistics.com. Dr.
Teo Ho Pin, MP for Bukit Panjang and Mayor of North-West Community
Development Council, is the patron of the SMU project, which also had the
support of the WTO, PHC, SKM and RAS.
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